US EAST COAST\\\ Ports applaud highways bill
The American Association of Port Authorities has applauded the latest highways bill approved by the Senate in late July. The Senate Environment and
Public Works (EPW) Committee approved the Transportation and Infrastructure Act 2019 that will reauthorise the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). The FAST Act fi ve-year
reauthorisation (2021-2025) calls for $287 billion in spending—a 27% increase over existing funding and the highest funding level ever authorized for the highway program. However, AAPA notes that fi nal funding levels will ultimately have to take into account the revenues coming into the Highway Trust Fund. Key provisions in the bill that
impact ports include Section 1109, the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program which increases
eligibility to include rural barge landing, dock, and waterfront infrastructure projects; Section 1110; the Nationally Signifi cant Freight Highway projects or INFRA provides additional funds for rural and small projects; and Section 1114; the National Highway Freight Program that was established under the FAST Act increases the maximum number of highway miles a state may designate in rural and urban areas. A maximum of 600 miles can be designated, which could help ports that were not included in the past. The multimodal cap for state funding also increased from 10% to 30%, a priority for AAPA. Environmental grant programs
that would be benefi cial to ports include Section 140, which authorises the Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue grants for charging and fuelling
stations similar to that included in the Green Corridors program; Section 1402 establishes a DOT grant program to reduce idling and emissions from port facilities including port electrifi cation projects.; and Section 1404; allows states to use Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program funds for inland waterway and marine highway projects.
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Issue 6 2019 - Freight Business Journal
to invest in our infrastructure.”
The SCPA board has also
approved the purchase of 25 new hybrid rubber-tyred gantry cranes for the Hugh K Leatherman terminal to
enable the Port of
Charleston to handle projected container volume growth over the next 25 years, as well as support operations at the new Leatherman terminal. The SCPA board also
unanimously approved the issuance of $400 million in
revenue bonds to fund planned capital expenditures crucial for future growth. Most of the funding will support
the construction of the new Leatherman terminal, which is located along the Cooper River in North Charleston. The fi rst phase is set to come
online in 2021 in conjunction with the completion of the Charleston Harbor deepening project to allow the port to handle more post- Panamax ships and increased cargo volumes.
The
23 three-berth Leatherman
terminal will ultimately double the port’s existing capacity. The revenue bonds will also
fund continued infrastructure upgrades and crane purchases at Wando Welch container terminal on the Wando River in Mount Pleasant, which has undergone a three-year modernization eff ort to ready it to handle the infl ux of bigger containerships. By the end of 2020, the Wando terminal will be able to handle three 14,000teu ships simultaneously.
The contribution US seaports have made to the US economy has risen dramatically over the past fi ve years, according to a study on behalf of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) by consultants Martin Associates. Among the fi ndings of the study,
“2018 National Economic Impact of the US Coastal Port System,” between 2014 and 2018, the total number of jobs supported by cargo moving through the Americas’ deep-draſt ports increased by more than a third from 23.1 million jobs to 30.8 million. Also, the total economic value that US coastal ports provide in terms of revenue to businesses, personal income and economic output by exporters and importers rose 17%; from $4.6 trillion to $5.4 trillion. This accounted for nearly 26% of the nation’s $20.5 trillion economy in 2018, which is the same proportion as fi ve years ago when the total US GDP was just $17.4 trillion. It also found that, since 2014
federal, state and local tax revenues generated by the port sector and importers and exporters rose nearly 18% from $321.1 billion to $378.1 billion. Personal wages and local
consumption related to the port sector increased by more than a quarter from $1.1 trillion to $1.4 trillion while the average annual salary of those directly employed
by port-related businesses rose from $53,723 to $62,800, a 17% increase. “The growth in jobs and
economic value of America’s ports refl ects their handling an additional 165 million tons of international cargo since 2014,” said Dr John Martin, Martin Associates’ president and founder. “It also underscores the importance of both the public and private sectors continuing to invest in port and intermodal infrastructure
to support and
foster good jobs, national security, inter-national trade and the United States’ unparalleled standard of living.” AAPA president and chief
executive Kurt Nagle added that, with the economic contributions of America’s seaports growing rapidly, there was an urgent need for more federal investment in enhancing the connections with those ports. “On both the land- side and water-side, AAPA’s US member ports have identifi ed a combined $66 billion in needed investments over the next decade,” he said. “These necessary federal channel, terminal, road, rail, bridge and tunnel improvements
are
crucial to enable our seaports to effi ciently handle their expected cargo volumes, continue providing dramatic economic and jobs impacts and enhance America’s international competitiveness.”
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